Miranda Barma
Rufus Barma's Grandfather (Descendant) Rufus Barma's Mother (Descendant) Rufus Barma (Descendant) Isla Yura's Father (Descendant) Isla Yura (Descendant) |current = None |manga debut = Retrace XXXVIII: Scapegoat |romanji = Miranda Baruma }} Miranda Barma (ミランダ バルマ Miranda Baruma) was an heir of the Barma Dukedom 100 years ago. She worked with Jack Vessalius in order to conspire against the Baskerville Clan, which lead to the Tragedy of Sablier. Miranda's ultimate goal was to retrieve the head of Oswald, the Glen Baskerville of the time, having hunted down Jack during the Tragedy in order to get what he'd promised to deliver to her. With Oswald weakened from his confrontation with Jack, Jack allowed Miranda to finish him off, though he used some of his last remaining strength to grab his sword and cut into Miranda's chest. Though she was thought to be dead, her talent for magic and alchemy kept her alive until Sablier fell into the Abyss, after which her body mutated and she became the Chain, Demios the Executioner. Appearance Miranda had long wavy crimson-colored hair, most often kept in a braid which was tied in a bow with a ribbon, leaving two longer pieces of hair to flow down the sides of her face. Miranda also had grey eyes. Miranda often wore a choker with a ribbon tied around it, and a necklace with numerous beads underneath, as well as a corset that at the top had a ribbon at the top of it, underneath flowed a thinner dress. On her arms, Miranda had more leather, topped with the same frilly material as her dress, covering from the tops of her shoulders down to her elbows. On her wrists is a black material that ends in the same frilly white material as her dress, tied together with a white string. Miranda also often wore a black cloak, which she held on her arms, she only wore it completely when she approached Vincent Nightray. Miranda also wears a ring on the ring finger of her right hand. Personality Miranda doesn't seem to be completely mentally stable. Miranda often decapitates victims within her own home using an axe, and she kept a collection of the skulls beside one another on a set of shelves in the same room. Although Miranda's mental stability can be put into question, she appears to be fairly clever and knowledgeable about both the Abyss and the Baskervilles' way of life. Miranda also has an obsession with obtaining Oswald's head, something that she would be willing to do anything in order to obtain. Miranda was also considerably clever and manipulative, managing to convince Vincent to open the abyss doors, and also managing to keep her true psychopathic behavior hidden from Oswald and all of the other residents of the Baskerville mansion. History The Barmas had only recently lost a power struggle in The Barma Homeland and were subsequently banished. Ever since then, Miranda's brother, Arthur Barma had been kissing up to one of the highest standing notabilities in their new home, the Baskervilles, in hope of gaining higher status. Though sometime after entering the new country, Miranda had attended an event, where she saw Levi, the reigning Glen Baskerville, and his personal valet for the first time. Miranda became obsessed with Levi's companion the second she laid eyes on him, wanting to obtain his head and make him belong to her. Eventually, though Miranda couldn't act toward her goal on her own, her answer emerged, as her brother introduced her to his friend, Jack Vessalius. With their meeting, Jack and Miranda forged a deal, where Miranda agreed to help Jack rise in status so that he could reunite with his beloved Lacie, so long as Jack helped her obtain Levi's valet's head in return. Over the years, Miranda held up her end of the bargain, and at the 8 year mark, she reintroduced a disguised Jack to an oblivious Arthur as a musician that could play the morin khuur - a traditional instrument from The Barma Homeland. Accepting this, Jack was permitted to enter the Baskerville estate with Arthur as they attended an event Levi was holding in Arthur's honor. This lead to Jack's reunion with Lacie - but also gave way to Jack's introduction to the object of Miranda's affection, Oswald - giving way to the part of his deal with Miranda that he had to fulfill. Having been accepted by the Baskervilles, Jack was invited back to the estate by Levi before leaving to visit Miranda. Jack found Miranda covered in blood as she proceeded to decapitate a new corpse in her tower, with Miranda asking how Jack's reunion with Lacie went. Rather than answering Miranda, Jack told her that he'd found the object of her desire, revealing to her that the valet's name was Oswald. Upon hearing Oswald's name, Miranda became overjoyed, pinning Jack up against a nearby wall in order to remind him of all the times she'd helped him over the years and that her payment for doing so would be Oswald, as she had to have his head. After learning from The Core of the Abyss about the Chain B-Rabbit, Jack returned to Miranda to discuss with her. Miranda, stated that by making a contract with the Chain B-Rabbit, it is necessary for the Door to the Abyss to be opened, asking Jack if she'd gotten it all right. Jack confirmed this, saying that normal Chains are able to use distortions in The Path in order to reach their world, where as The Intention of the Abyss had told Jack that B-Rabbit would need a much bigger road to be opened before it can reach their world. Miranda asked what Jack planned on doing with his Chain, and Jack simply said that he'd be "returning the favor". Jack then told Miranda that if she hadn't saved him, he would never have been able to accomplish his reunion with Lacie. Miranda remained silent as Jack continued to say that he was eternally grateful for her rescue. Jack then explained that Glen's power was his might, and that his sword skills are a testament to The Black Winged Chains he possessed, so if Miranda really wanted his head, then she'd need to have more power than him, because if she faced him just as a regular human, the task of retrieving Oswald's head would be impossible. Miranda agreed, stating that she wanted Oswald, and that since she'd first laid eyes on him she couldn't forget him, with his beautiful head resting on top of his shoulders. Miranda then stated that she wanted to hold Oswald's head in her arms and kiss him, keeping him by her side until his body began to rot away and slowly death would overcome him. In this moment, his eyes would be etched into Miranda's memories and like that she could make Oswald belong to her, and only her, forever. Miranda then told Jack that all five of the Doors to the Abyss are directly connected to the Abyss itself, and that as far as she understood, one of the Doors was in the basement of the Baskerville mansion, naturally, it is guarded closely by the Baskervilles. Miranda went on to explain that because it appears that the Baskervilles are using Chains, a mere human like Jack wouldn't stand a chance, but she then mentioned that there was a day when the Door's defense had a gap in it, and that day was the Succession Ceremony of Glen Baskerville, which was fast approaching. Miranda explained that only on this one day, the Baskervilles would leave their posts in order to see the face of the next Glen, and as a replacement, the Nightray Dukedom, the closest allies of the Baskervilles, took over the guard for this one day, but despite being of higher status, they were only human, like Jack. Miranda stopped there, saying that she wanted Jack to figure out the rest on his own, though she did mention that she'd heard that only Glen could open the Doors to the Abyss, teasingly asking what Jack would do. After thinking it over, Jack apologized to Miranda, saying that there was so much that the two of them needed to prepare that he was worrying that they wouldn't be able to get it all done in time. Miranda comforted Jack, saying that she's certain that everything would be okay. After both he and Miranda had been invited to Gilbert's first Succession Ceremony for Raven, Jack immediately launched his plan to open the Door to the Abyss. Jack proceeded to tell The Intention a lie about the Succession Ceremony and how it would kill Gilbert - knowing that she'd divulge the information to Vincent at the first chance she got. Not knowing what to do, Vincent went off to cry over the imminent loss of his brother - wishing that there was some way that he could save Gilbert. Miranda then approached Vincent, having heard his desperation, telling the young Baskerville that there was indeed a way to save Gilbert. When Vincent questioned what Miranda meant, she explained that all Vincent had to do was open the Door to the Abyss during the Succession Ceremony, as it would disrupt the event and make it impossible for Oswald to claim Gilbert's body as his own - meaning that the soul of Glen Baskerville would have to wait 100 years for its next vessel to emerge. Miranda then told Vincent that she would cast a spell on him that would allow him to open the Door to the Abyss - even though this was a lie, as it was Vincent's powers as a Child of Ill Omen that allowed him to do so. To ensure that Vincent wouldn't reveal their interaction to anyone, Miranda told Vincent that the magic she'd cast was very fragile and that he had to keep it a secret, or else there would be no one around to save Gilbert anymore - implying that Vincent would die. Accepting this out of desperation to save his brother, Vincent immediately ran off to the Door to the Abyss, leaving Miranda to change out of her disguise. Just then, Jack and Raymond Nightray arrived on the scene. Jack voiced his surprise, asking why Miranda was at the Baskerville estate, though in response Miranda simply smiled cheerfully. Mere moments later, an explosion is heard as a disruption spreads across Sablier. Though Jack acted clueless to what was going on, in reality he knew well that his plot had been successful and that Vincent had opened the Door to the Abyss. When the guests of the Baskerville estate start to get slaughtered by the Baskervilles so that they would be included in The Rule of 100 Cycles rather than dropping into the Abyss alongside Sablier and becoming Chains, Miranda flees the scene. Eventually, she comes across Jack, who stands over a seemingly unconscious Oswald. Jack explained that he'd rendered Oswald unconscious, presenting him to Miranda so that she could do as she pleased with him. Overjoyed, Miranda thanked Jack and immediately ran up to Oswald, crouching over his body and explaining that she'd been waiting for that moment ever since she'd first laid eyes on her "beloved". Picking up a nearby battleaxe from one of the fallen Baskervilles, Miranda prepared to decapitate Oswald so that she could keep his head and satisfy her obsession. However, before Miranda could make her move, Oswald mustered up enough strength to grab a nearby sword and slice through Miranda's torso. As Miranda fell, Jack fled the scene with Gilbert in his arms, leaving Miranda in Oswald's hands. Ultimately, because she was Jack's co-conspirator and possessed a crazed and toxic state of mind, Oswald decided that it would be best to let her live rather than killing her, as someone like Miranda didn't deserve to be included in The Rule of 100 Cycles. Thus, Oswald left Miranda's unconscious wounded body while he left to deal with Alice and her connection to the Intention of the Abyss. Soon enough, the majority of Sablier was dropped into the Abyss, with Miranda dropping alongside it. Once in the Abyss, Miranda's body was overwhelmed with the power radiating throughout the dimension, and so she mutated into a Chain and took on a new identity as Demios the Executioner. Plot The Feast Arc After Isla Yura's Cult arrives in the ballroom and start their massacre, Vincent begins having flashbacks of the Tragedy of Sablier. When Ada Vessalius comes to help Vincent, he sees Miranda instead as a hallucination, resulting in Vincent pushing Ada away, blaming everything that happened on her, believing that she was Miranda. Swan Song Arc (Coming Soon!) Powers and Abilities *Sorcery - Miranda, like the rest of her family at the time, delved into the world of sorcery and chemistry. She was able to perform ceremonies using this power, and she was also able to teach it to others, as she did with Vincent Nightray. *Knowledgeable of the Abyss Relationships Jack Vessalius Miranda had saved Jack from his wretched life, and without her, Jack would never have risen up in society and reunited with his Lacie. In return, Miranda wanted Jack to help her with her own obsession, obtaining the head of the Baskerville named Oswald. After Jack had been welcomed into the Baskerville estate by Levi, he told Miranda that he'd finally met Oswald. After Lacie's death, the two conspired against Oswald in order to destroy the chains that prevented the world from falling into the Abyss and to obtain Oswald's head for Miranda. Miranda and Jack effectively worked in partnership to create the Tragedy of Sablier, where Jack only plunged Sablier into the Abyss; however neither of their goals were reached as Jack wished to plunge the entirety of the world into the Abyss and Miranda never received Oswald's head, as it was used as a medium to create one of the Sealing Stones instead. Oswald Although it at first seemed to stem from her love to decapitate people, it has become more clear that Miranda wants Oswald's head because she has feelings for Oswald, wanting to make him belong to her and only her since she had first seen Oswald with Levi at an event years before. Though Miranda's methods are clouded by her insanity, Miranda would've done anything to obtain Oswald's head, and so she helped start the Tragedy of Sablier in order to obtain it. Raymond Nightray Raymond Nightray was not overly fond of Miranda and Jack, and so when the Succession Ceremony for Gilbert to inherit Raven came along, and Raymond was to lead the Nightrays in taking over the Baskervilles' duties for them in order for them to attend the ceremony, Raymond begged Oswald to cancel the invitations he had sent to the Barma and Vessalius families. Raymond explained that he'd known that both he and Oswald had good relationships with previous members of the family, but whenever Raymond saw Miranda and Jack, he got an ill feeling in his chest. When Oswald ignored Raymond's warning because Gilbert wanted Jack at his Succession Ceremony, Raymond kept an eye on Jack when he came to the Baskerville estate, and was unimpressed when he saw that Miranda was there as well. Quotes To Jack Vessalius *"How was your reunion with your sweetheart?" *“Now then…this is about all the information that I can provide you with. The rest I want you to try and do on your own, some way or another. I have also heard that only Glen can open the Door, but— What will you do, I wonder?” *"That man is my price. You understand how I feel don't you? I want him! I want to keep him by my side! I want to get my hands on his head!!!" (About Oswald) *"Since the first moment I saw him, I couldn't forget it…That beautiful head of his resting atop those shoulders. I want to kiss him. Soon, his body will start rotting and slowly death will take over him. And in that moment, his eyes will be etched in my memories. And, like that, I will last be able to make him…Oswald, mine and mine alone, forever—!”(About Oswald) To Vincent Nightray *"You just have to prevent your brother's body from belonging to Glen, and undergo a ceremony..." *"Once you break the promise, this magic will become a curse, and there shall be no one to save your brother anymore." Gallery ﻿ A note 3.png|Miranda and Jack conspire against the Baskervilles 95 - Miranda and Vincent.jpg|Vincent realizes that he formed a Contract with the woman he hates more than anything 97 - Miranda Vincent.jpg|Miranda's hold over Vincent is broken February2014.jpg Miranda in Mochizuki's Musings.png|Miranda, as she appeared in Mochizuki's Musings Barmas.jpg 39 - Miranda Vincent.jpg|Retrace XXXIX: Gate of Blackness Chap67, 2.png|Retrace LXVII: Lacie Tumblr n4of3fWiqh1ql4s63o2 1280.jpg Evidence Miranda.jpg|Miranda's profile in Pandora Hearts 18.5: Evidence Appearances Trivia *When introduced in Retrace XXXIX: Gate of Blackness, the text ("The mumblings of a black snake setting up a sweet trap towards destruction") calls Miranda a "Black Snake". Interestingly, Isla Yura, a relative of the Barma Dukedom three generations later, is known as the "Venomous Snake". *Miranda bears some resemblance to Madam Red from Black Butler. *Within Miranda's tower laboratory, where she performs forms of chemistry and decapitates corpses, Miranda had a collection of decapitated skulls sitting in a shelving unit. All together, Miranda had around 42 skulls in these shelves. *Ironically, the very Chain that Vincent formed a Contract with prior to Dormouse was none other than the woman he despises most and blames for the Tragedy in a past life. Navigation Category:Barma Family Category:Characters Category:Female Category:Human Category:Deceased